黑洞社区

Glazing defects have hit Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 scheme to turn the former Whiteleys shopping centre in London into upmarket flats and a hotel.

黑洞社区 understands that a 鈥渟ubstantial鈥� amount of glass has had to be ripped out and replaced after the problems were discovered.

The development, which has an overall value of 拢1bn, involves turning the historic shopping centre in Bayswater into 139 luxury apartments and London鈥檚 first Six Senses hotel under a plan drawn up by Foster & Partners.

The redevelopment is being headed by a joint venture between a Meyer Bergman-advised fund and Warrior Group with development manager on the scheme, luxury property firm Finchatton.

But the job has been delayed after the faults were discovered meaning fit out contractor Ardmore couldn鈥檛 get on to the site when it was supposed to.

One source said: 鈥淭here was a 鈥榮himmer鈥� effect on the glass and a substantial amount has had to go because of the fault. 鈥�

The first residents were supposed to have moved in already but Finchatton said this would now happen in the first quarter of next year.

In a statement, the firm said: 鈥淲e identified a defect in the glazing and have subsequently replaced it. Residents will be moving in, in Q1 2024.鈥� Laing O鈥橰ourke declined to comment.

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O鈥橰ourke won the job in 2019 after beating remaining rival Sir Robert McAlpine to the work which had a then construction price tag of around 拢250m.

The work at the grade II-listed shopping centre, which dates back to 1912, will also include new shops, caf茅 and restaurants, an Everyman cinema and luxury health club called Third Space. The hotel will have 110 guest rooms and suites and 14 branded residences which the hotel says offers 鈥減rivileges that come with a Six Senses home, including bespoke interior design, concierge service, dining, housekeeping, and wellness programming鈥�.

Others working on the scheme include project manager Gardiner & Theobald, QS T&T Alinea, civil and structural engineer AKT II and WSP as the traffic and waste engineer.

Hold-ups on Whiteleys, officially known as The Whiteley, and ongoing negotiations with the developer behind O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 Olympia scheme in west London are thought to be among the reasons why the country鈥檚 biggest private contractor still hasn鈥檛 filed its annual accounts more than seven months after its year end on 31 March.

The firm brought in FTSE veteran Sir John Parker as chairman six years ago to tighten up corporate governance after its 2017 and 2018 accounts were filed months behind schedule.